St.
Louis election polling sites were haunted by at least
14 deceased voters in the 2000 election according to Missouri
Secretary of State Matt Blunt.

Elected in November 2000, Blunt told the Platte Republican
Association on Friday that one of his first tasks was
to investigate election wrongdoing in St. Louis.

In addition to votes made in the names of dead people,
Blunt stated, "Thousands of questionable ballots
were cast." The secretary of state is the chief elections
officer in Missouri.

Blunt reported that he turned over the results of his
investigation to federal and state prosecutors because,
"The only way to stop election fraud is to punish
people."

"The election process matters," Blunt told
the group. Under Missouri law, citizens can get a court
order to allow them to vote if they are turned away at
the polls. However, only 35 of more than 1,000 court orders
issued in the St. Louis area were found to be valid during
his investigation. "The judiciary's actions manipulated
the election results," Blunt stated.

Polling sites in St. Louis remained open later than other
sites in Missouri because of an order issued by one judge
and shut down the polls.

In recent elections, St. Louis has been plagued by irregularities.
I November 2000, sixty-eight people took serious the joking
phrase "Voting early, vote often" and were able
to vote twice in the St. Louis area Blunt said.

During the past session of the Missouri legislature,
Blunt presented comprehensive election reform measures
to fight voting fraud in Missouri and to prevent the type
of ballot counting confusion that occurred in Florida
in last year's presidential election. He is a former member
of the Missouri House of Representatives and the son of
former secretary of state Roy Blunt.

Blunt was the only Republican to win statewide in Missouri,
other than President George W. Bush, in 2000. He had been
rumored to be considering a challenge to Bob Holden in
the 2004 governor's race.